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SF.rONn REFOliMEI) niTTCH CHITROH 



HACKENSACK, N. J,, 



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ON THANKSGIVING MORNING, NOV. 28. 1861. 



REV. JAMES DEMAREftT, JR., 

PASTOR. 



l'u1>li.--.lnHl l>y Recjiiest. 



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HACKENSACK : 

nUNTEl) AT TIT!: OFFICK, 01'' THE BKRGEX COUNTV PATRIOT. 



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A SERMON 



PREACHED IN TtlK 



SECOND REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH 



HACKENSACK, N. J., 



ON THANKSGIVING MORNING, NOV. 28, 1861. 



REV. JAMES DEMAREST, JR., 

PASTOR. 



Pablislied Yty Request. 



HACKENSACK: 
PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE BERGEN COUNTY PATRIOT. 



1861 



S E KM ON 



" Tn everything give thanks." 

1 Thes. v. 18. 

The annual Thanksgiving has again come round, and wc are 
gathered here, as is our wont, to recount the mercies of the year. 
On the threshold of this exercise, as we commission memory to 
do its work, an unusual feeling surprises us — so strange, so un- 
like that of formel' years when engaging in this pleasant duty, 
tliat we are for the moment bewildered. Like one just waking 
from some strange, exciting dream, and in the confusion of the 
moment scarcely knowing whether fanc}' or reality has conjured 
up the images of which his mind is full, conscious only of a 
strange and startling impression, which is yet all a mystery ; so 
we are to-day confused and bewildered as the events of the year 
rush in upon our minds in all their chaotic mystery, startling 
us with their strangeness, and their swift and varied movements, 
and confounding us with their improbability even while existing 
.before our eyes. 

Especially as the events of the year are contemplated witli 
reference to tliankfulness, are we bewildered by them. What 
is their meaning in this view ? Shall we be thankful, or refrain 
from gratitude ? Are tlie defection of States from their politi- 
cal allegiance, the stagnation of trade, the suspension of industry 
in many of its forms, the devastation and blood of civil war — 
are these fit subjects of gratitude ? Is their harsii touch to call 
forth praise ? I liope to make it appear, in tlio progress of my 



discourse, that the apostle's exhortation requires no limitation 
by reason of present circumstances ; that even the adversities 
of this present time, both in themselves and in man}' of their 
accompanying- circumstances, are fitted to make us thankful. 

But first let me ask you to reflect on your immediate sur- 
roundings. Take note of the many providential blessings which 
the season just closing lias witnessed, and the fruits of which 
you are now enjoying. God has given the former and the lat- 
ter rain, the sunshine and the dew, and to-day our garners are 
full, affording all manner of store. No pestilence has walked 
among us in darkness, but through our frames the rosy current 
of health has tingled, as we have gone out and in in pursuit of 
our usual avocations. The alarms of war have indeed reached 
our ears, and thrilled through our souls, coming nearer home 
than ever before to this generation ; but the devastations of war, 
while they have been rioting over other parts of the land, have 
left us unscathed. Our houses have not been plundered, nor our 
fields pillaged, nor our towns burnt, nor have we been com- 
pelled to flee before hostile forces. As citizens of New Jersey 
we have been at peace, enjoying the comforts and cultivating the 
arts of peace. We have still been permitted, a? in former years, 
to breathe the atmosphere of a Christian sentiment, produced 
by the influence of gospel truth pervading and leavening society 
in this land of bibles and Sabbaths. The sublime consolations 
of our holy religion have still been extended to us, to soothe our 
personal troubles and strengthen us for the future of life's ex- 
periences. All this is, without question, matter for devout 
gratitude ; while many other reasons of thankfulness will read- 
ily occur to the mind as memory runs over the past and gathers 
them up, or as reflection dwells on the present, and attempts to 
count the separate drops that fill up the cup of blessing which 
to-day is pressed to our lips. It would be a pleasant employ- 
ment for me to assist this exercise by suggesting more in detail 
the many considerations which, as individuals, and as a com- 
munity, impel us to gratitude. But the occasion demands a 
more enlarged view. We have interests extending far beyond 
the bounds of our little State— we are, indeed, citizens of the 
great American nation more than of New Jersey ; and the vast 
and wide-spreading interests and influences of this noble citizen- 



ship touch our personality more nearly, and penetrate it more 
keenly and deeply, than the interests and influences pertaining 
to any other political relationship. 

Extending our view thus involuntarily and instinctively over 
our wide-spread country, we are saddened and sickened by the 
spectacle presented. How changed in one short year ! as if the 
wand of some evil magician had waved over the land, and sud- 
denly conjured up a host of woes. A year ago there were symp- 
toms of disease in the body politic, signs of a coming storm in 
our political firmament ; but who of us suspected the extent or 
malignity of the disease, as revealed by after developments ? 
Who of us Avas not filled with amazement at seeing the rapidly 
gathering storm presently burst in fury over the land? I freely 
confess that I for one was taken by surprise. The course of 
events was not as I expected. I was startled at the secession 
rage, sweeping State after State, as fire sweeps the great prai- 
ries of the West. I was unprepared for the disclosure of trai- 
torous schemes adroitly executed in the Cabinet at Washington. 
And even after the defection of seven States was complete, and 
had taken on the form of organized rebellion, although the 
gloomiest forebodings would sometimes claim attention, I still 
hoped for a peaceful settlement, and never ceased hoping until 
the guns of Charleston harbor shot away the flag of Sumter. 
This, I suppose, was the experience of the great mass of the 
people of the loyal States. The successive phases of the great 
rebellion, marked by perpetrations of baseness, utterly con- 
founded the loyal mind of the country. The forcible seizure and 
appropriation of arsenals, fortifications, stores and money be- 
longing to the national Government, the ousting of patients 
from a Government hospital for the purpose of securing the 
property, the repudiation of debts owed to Northern creditors, 
contracted in good faith in the ordinary course of commercial 
dealing— the wholesale robbery, in short, both of public and 
private property, by which the rebellious confederation secured 
its stock in trade, and set itself up in business, shocked the moral 
sense of the nation at every repetition in its diversified forms. 
But even then conciliation was attempted. It Avas felt that some 
allowance might be made for a feeling, nci matter Avhethcr true 
or false, of having been Avrongcd, wrought up by the excitement 



G 

of" the Lour to a- pitclj of uiireayoniDg' I'liry. But wheu all these 
attempts, in wliatever way devised, resulted in failure, then the 
whole irravity of the case became but too plainly apparent. The 
gigantic treason was the fruit of thirty years' growth, not the 
sudden mushroom of a single presidential election ; the dissolu- 
tion of the Union, and the consequent destruction of the national 
Government, was the sober and unalterable determination ; and 
the several acts of violence and fraud were but the execution of 
the long-devised plot by appropriate means. When at last there 
was no longer a motive for any disguise, the mask was per- 
mitted to full entirely off, and the insolent and defiant front of 
rebellion was disclosed in all its hideous ugliness. The emblem 
of our nationality, quietly floating over a national fortress, had 
long been a stench in the nostrils of secession, and could no 
longer be endured. The calm courage and patriotic constancy 
of Anderson and his little garrison, administering from day to 
day a galling though silent rebuke, were no longer tolerable. 
The stars and stripes must come down, the fortress must be 
yielded up and evacuated by those v/ho alone liad the right to 
hold it. Arguments of iron, thundered out from rifled cannon, 
enforced this unrighteous conclusion ; and thus was lit the now 
wide-spread conflagration of civil war. 

Up to this point the forbearance of the loyal North was ex- 
treme — it Avas more than just, it was grandly charitable — 
suffering long, unwilling to think evil, hoping all things, bear- 
ing all things ; but beyond this point forbearance ceased to be 
a virtue. Insult and outrage toward the common foster-motlier 
might be forgiven, in case of after amendment ; but when trea- 
son raised its arm to strike the death-blow at that mother's 
heart, it only 3'emained to rush to lier rescue from the violence 
of unnatural clilldren — to seize the arm raised with nnn-derous 
intent, and disable it for the meditated wickedness. And nobly 
was this duty performed. In obedience to the call of a patriotic 
President, issued in pursuance of his oalh to maintain the Con- 
stitution, and enforce the laws, multitudes rushed to arms. The 
lion of loyalty, suddenly wakened by the noise of the bombard- 
ment of Sumter, started np from his too lengthy lethargy, shook 
from his mane the dew of tiie night, and with a roar of soverignty 
that startled the continent, rushed to the defense of his domain. 



You all remember that mighty, spontaneous uprising of the 
people in behalf of the Union of these States, and the preserva- 
tion of our free Government— that sudden welling up of a 
patriotic tide from the fountains of national feeling, which, with 
irresistible force, swept everything before it, and swiftly bore 
the legions of hardy freemen to the defense of their capital. 
This sudden and mighty uprising of a great nation is one of the 
grandest events that ever fell to the lot of history to record. 
Tt is full of sublimity. To see a free people, the moment the 
intent of a foul treason is understood, lifting itself up in its 
mightiness, with the noble indignation of outraged patriotism, to 
deal tlie death-blow to that treason, shaking itself loose from the 
shackles of party prejudice, and old party association, intent 
only on one high purpose, and moved by one controlling in- 
spiration, — this is a spectacle worthy of freedom, worthy of 
patriotism, a spectacle on which the future histoiian will dwell 
with admiration, and from which future ages will learn the 
lesson of heroic devotion to a great principle. 

And is there nothing to be thankful for in this? Regarding 
the great uprising simply as a splendid evidence of vital energy 
in the nation, it is matter for gratitude. "The God of our 
fathers has watched "over the national life, guarding its flame 
from extinction amid the unwholesome damps of luxury and 
avarice by which it has been surrounded, and maintaining its 
spirit in so much strength beneath the strifes of partisans lip, 
and the mercenary motives of private interests, that when the 
severe test was applied of a rebellion made formidable by 
enlisting on its side the strength of party prejudice, and selfish 
interests, it was yet not overpowered, but burned with an un- 
wonted glow by reason of the very blast tliat was directed 
against it. There is a national life, as well as an individual 
life. There was reason, perhaps, to fear that, as excesses in 
youth drain the sources of vitality in the individual, so our na- 
tional vitality might have become prematurely exhausted by 
living too fast. We liavc grown rapidly in weo,lth and position 
among the nations, and liave been engaged for some years past 
in sowing wild oats on a large scale. Finding ourselves sud- 
denly rich, we have— so perverse is human nature, whether 
singly or in the aggregate — abused our prosperity to our 



own detriment. We have plunged into excesses. We liave 
allowed bribery and peculation, and corruption of all sorts to 
enter into our politics, and thoroughly pervade them. Worse 
than this, the idea and purpose of money-mcaking have become 
so thoroughly imbedded in the mind and character of the na- 
tion, tliat the whole community has looked on with the approba- 
tion at least of silence, virtually confessing thereby that the 
chief end of existence was being attained, and so never mind the 
means — we will wait to question them until something can 
be made out of it. Now the tendency of all this, not to speak 
here of its being a sin against God, has been to demoralize the 
national conscience, to vitiate the national character, to emas- 
culate the national spirit. It was not without reason, therefore, 
that during the dark days between November and April, good 
men feared for the Republic. Self-interest had often in smaller 
matters thrown the public good overboard- -how would it be 
now ? Thank God, Ave are vigorous as well as young. Yes, 
my friends, thank God that througli the gigantic energy of the 
old national spirit, political complications, inwoven Avith ambi- 
tion and avarice, making a cord trebly strong, were broken like 
a thread. The bewitcliing Delilah of material prosperity has 
not yet shorn us of our strength. At the cry, " The Philis- 
tines be upontliee!" the national spirit sprang, like another 
Samson, from luxurious unconsciousness upon her lap, and 
astonished with its might alike the patriot and the traitor. 

But if deep gratitude is elicited by the discovery of the strength 
of the national spirit — the vigor of the national life — for its own 
sake, a still deeper gratitude is fitting when we reflect on the mo- 
mentous consequences involved in the manifestation of this spirit, 
at this particular time. I shudder to think of the consequences of 
the failure of such a manifestation in this great emergency. One 
of two things Avould have been the result : cither, war would by 
tliis time have been raging in all parts of our broad land, in its 
most cruel and revolting aspect, — neighbor becoming tlie assassin 
of neighbor, and friend of friend, midnight conflagrations start- 
ling sleeping villages and towns with sudden and Avide-spread 
destruction, armed bands >harrassing each other, and roving 
hither and thither to Ppillage and rob ; or, the constitution 
which our fathers laid as the foundation of our nationality, Avith 



tempered mortar, uiid of stoncf^ quarried out of the mines oi' 
freedom, would have been violently wrenched asunder, and the 
whole fabric of our nationality would have tumbled into ruins — 
to be reared again on a constitution embodying principles which 
our fathers never knew. How deeply grateful the;: should wo 
be to-day for that wonderful imanimity which made the loyal 
North as one in the determination to maintain the constitution 
of our fathers, and to crush the treason that would supplnnt it — 
which in a moment obliterated party distinctions, and rallied 
millions of freemen to one high endeavor. For do you not dis- 
cover here the finger of God ? To me it seems like a new crea- 
tion, or a national resurrection, recpiiring a Divine power. I 
cannot but reii'ard it as the result of tiic movement of the 
Spirit of God on the popular mass, as in creation He moved on 
the face of the waters and caused a world to appear. For, be 
it remembered, this was a great i)opular uprising. It was not the 
work of political leaders. Rather it was in spite of political 
leaders. Left to them, the country would have been ruined. 
Many of them, in the midst of the crisis, knew nothing but 
partisanship. But the great popular swell soon overtook and 
submerged them in its current, so that they were lost to view, 
or catching them u}), bore them, however uuAvillingly, to the 
goal of the popular purpose. Yes, it was the people who, 
moved by an inspiration from on high, rose up to defend their 
ancient liberties, their free government, as the fathers gave it 
to them : 

" Tliroiighout the land there goes a cry, 
A siiddeu splendor fills the sky : 
From every hill the banners hurst, 
Like buds by April breezes nurst : 
In every hamlet, home, and mart, 
The fire-beat of a single heart 
Keeps time to strains whose pulses mix 
Our blood with that of Seventy six !" 

Nor was this outburst of national enthusiasm the display of a 
mei-e evanescent emotion, to be consumed presently by the heat of 
its own energy. Witness the steadfastness of this patriotic loyal- 
ty, through long and weary months of preparation, and through 
periods of disaster to the national cause. It is stronger to-day than 



10 



ever, notwithstanding Bull Kun, and Lexington, and Leesburg ; 
notwithstanding the mourning that has filled the land for Ells- 
worth, and Lyon, and Baker. It has made treason, in the few 
places and spheres where it still retains a footing, assume a dis- 
guise, which it wears most ungraciously. and awkwardly, but 
which it yet feels constrained to wear. It has marshaled an 
army of half a million men, without conscription — a splendid proof 
of its depth and heartiness. And, to crown all, perhaps I should 
say, it has supplied the government with all the money that is 
needed for the enormous expenditure necessary in carrying on 
the war. And here the patriotism of the banR managers of New 
York deserves special mention. The great city and money cen- 
tre of the continent, whose co-operation cither actively or pas- 
sively the rebellion reckoned on, has unlocked its money vaults 
and poured their contents into the treasury of the nation. 
Perhaps it is not too much to say that adverse action on the ])art 
of tho New- York banks would have been fatal to the national 
cause. Here then do we again witness the good hand of our 
God upon us ; first, in wonderfully increasing our silver and our 
gold by the marvelous prosperity of the past, and then in moving 
the minds of our capitalists to place the wealth of the land at 
the disposal of the government. And so to day we occupy the 
proud position of independence of other nations in the means 
of sustaining our vastly increased expenditure. A kind, fore- 
seeing Providence has taxed the resources of the world to en- 
rich us, by means of a commerce that has penetrated every clime 
under the whole heaven ; and now that we need money, thanks 
to this watchful Providence, we've got it, and it's available 
too. English toricsnced not be uneasv. Washinu:ton will not 
trouble London, with New York so near at hand. 

And here I am reminded of the attitude of the great powers of 
Europe towards us in this struggle. We shall I think find cause for 
gratitude even on this head. \Vc were quite chagrined at the 
course of the English government, last Spring, followed by the 
Continental powers, in according belligerent rights to those 
who had taken up arms against the government of this Union. 
We felt almost inclined to resent, as an outrage, tliis being 
placed on the same footing with rebels. We thought we had de- 
served better of Eiifjland. We remembered our sympathy with 



11 



her when in similar straits, on more than one occasion, and our 
abundant and cordial hospitality to licr prince royal less than a 
year before ; and wo felt hurt and aggrieved. But, leaving the 
equity of the thing undecided one way or tlie other, it has event 
uated in good. We!-e it not for the belligerent status of tlio 
rebellious confederacy in the eyes of European powers, there 
would be no obligation on their part to respect the blockade of 
our Southern coast ; and self-interest tempting them to raise it, 
forcibly, we might by this time have become involved in a 
foreign war. Their own action, in the issuing of their procla- 
mations of neutrality as between belligerents, and that alone, 
binds them to respect the blockade, and thus they have volun- 
tarily raised around us p, barrier for our defense. In the mat" 
ter, too, of the recent arrest of the rebel envoys on board a 
British ship, the belligerent status given to our government puts 
it out of the power of England to complain. Our justification 
of this act depends on our recognized belligerent status. Aside 
from this it cannot be justified ; it becomes a grievous trespass, 
for which ample reparation is due. So I read public law. As 
it is, however. Fort Warren can hold its inmates, and Great 
Britain has made herself impotent to demand their release. 
Here then do we again see the good hand of our God upon us. 
in causing that which we at first resented as disconrtcous and 
unjust, to redound to our signal advantage. 

But it has been thought that notwithstanding neutrality pro- 
clamations, there is great danger of a foreign war. As cotton 
is a prime necessity for England, may she not compel a supply 
from Southern store houses, calculating that with so much work 
on our hands at home, we should be able to do but little against 
a foreign armament. The tone of a large portion of the Eng- 
lish press has given color to such surmises, and rendered them 
not improbable of realization. But here again Providence has 
singularly guarded our cause. The crops in Europe, the past 
season, have been a failure, almost universally ; while here, in 
addition to this year's plentiful harvest, a vast surplus of the 
produce of former plentiful yeai'S is stored in the great granary 
of our land, the West. England and France, therefore, having 
short crops at home, and being cut off from European supplies. 



12 



are, iu the arrangement of Providence, dependent upon us for 
bread. If England needs Southern cotton, she needs Northern 
grain more. If the French monarch has ambitious designs on 
this country, the pressing necessity of securing his imperial seat at 
home from being swept away by the toruadct of an uprising of the 
masses demanding '' bread ! " " bread ! ■' requires his first and 
most serious attention. His throne, strong as-it is, could hard- 
ly withstand the onset of a Parisian mob made desperate by 
hunger. He is at least too Avise to run the risk. The question 
of a foreign war therefore seems to be settled for at least a good 
many months to come. Neither England nor France will cut 
herself off from the prime necessity of states, no less than of 
individuals. Thus He who controls the processes of nature, 
who, in the language of the prophet Amos, causes it to rain up- 
on one city, and not to rain upon another city, by giving here, 
and by withholding there, has hedged-about our cause from 
foreign interference, leaving our full strength available for the 
single purpose of maintaining our nationality. 

Thus it seems we have many and weighty reasons for thank- 
fulness in the course of events attending our great struggle. It 
may be asked, however, is there anything to be thankful for in 
war? Is not war unmixed evil? To this general question, I 
unhesitatingly answer No : war is not necessarily umitigated 
evil. Sometimes it is, when waged in the interest of ambition, 
or resentment, or conquest ; but Avhen waged as this war is on 
the part of the loyal States in the interest of freedom, and a 
noble God-given nationality, the recognized bulwark of free- 
dom, it is not unmixed evil. 1 grant you that terrible evils do 
attach to every war, however just. War is to-day the scourge 
of our land. Heaven's instrument of deserved chastisement ; and 
as such, it becomes us to be humble while we are thankful — to lift 
our faces to Heaven with gratitude chastened and subdued by 
a vail of penitential tears. But look at the spirit in which this 
struggle was undertaken, a id which has marked the whole con- 
duct of the war, and decided its character. It was not a spirit 
of vindictiveness, but of reluctant yielding to a dire necessity. 
And severe self-denial was involved in this. Acquiescence in 
the foul schemes and violent dcaliuQ-s of the rebellion would 



13 



have been ignominious, but it would have secured peace. It 
would have saved tlio l)usiness interests of the country the 
great shock which they received at the beginning of tlie war. 
It would have kept open the ordinary channels of trade, and 
obviated bankruptcies. But these perfectly understood conse- 
quences of war were not allowed to weigh down the scale 
against the justice of waging it. The righteousness of the great 
cause was of far weightier moment than the sordid considera- 
tions of private gain. Self-interest was thrown overboard, and 
self-denial taken up in its stead. And this is the influence 
which to-day is moulding the national character anew. The 
mind of the nation is impressed with the conviction that a re- 
sponsibility is devolved on this generation only less grave than 
that which was rested on the founders of the Republic ; and to 
meet this responsibility it is gathering up all its moral ener- 
gies, which in turn become strengthened by means of the weight 
which they are summoned to sustain. Thus through the just- 
ness of our cause the moral sentiment of the nation is becoming 
ennobled and strengthened, while through the wholesome dis- 
cipline of self-denial, exercised in behalf of a just cause, a na- 
tional character is being developed, which shall by-and-by fit us 
for the noblest achievements of peace. Nations need adver- 
sities no less than individuals. Our great prosperity was bidding 
fair to be our ruin, before it was checked and counterbalanced by 
this great national trial. If through the plow and the harrow of 
adversity, our public vices become uprooted, and the soil of pub- 
lic morality becomes cultured for the growth of virtue ; if the 
weeds of corruption are destroyed, and all that is noble and 
enduring in national character is strengthened and developed, 
the price paid in blood and treasure will yield its full equiva- 
lent. 

It seems, then, that in the peculiar character and influence of 
this war, there is matter for gratitude. If it serves the pur- 
pose of a much-needed discipline, it will turn out to be a positive 
blessing. Shall we then modify the apostolic exhortation, so as 
to except war ? Shall we be thankful for every thing except the 
war ? No ! my friends. With a faith in God that shall recog- 
nize Him as chastening whom He lovetli. let us be thankful 



14 

that he has been mindful of us, in our forge tfulness of Him — in 
our absorbing worldliness, and idolatory of mammon, — and is 
now by disaster calling us back to the forgotten source of our 
past prosperity and greatness, and to that righteousness which 
alone can exalt a nation. 

And when we reflect on the great ci'isis that is upon us, and 
feel overwhelmed at the thought of its magnitude, yet let us not 
lose heart and despair. " Faint not when thou art rebuked of 
Him." Adversity brings with it special duties : and ours is, 
most unmistakably, to gird our loins for the race with trea- 
son in its unholy career, that we be not distanced by it ; to 
buckle on our armor for the foe within our borders. Let 
the plowshare be beaten into a sword, and the pruning hook 
into a spear. "Wake up the mighty men ; let all the men of war 
draw near ; let them come up ! " Multitudes, multitudes in the 
valley of decision : for the day of the Lord is near in tlie val- 
ley of decision." 

Yes, out of the sky I hear God's clarion mustering to the 
battle. The armed hosts are meeting for the great decision, 
and God will give it ! By the result of this war He will push 
forward His most high and holy purposes. They are ripening 
fast, " unfolding every hour," and it only requires the shock of 
battle to shake them down on the nation and the world. Oh 
how grand are the possibilities of the future ! Shall we not 
find, in the end, that God has solved for us the great problems 
that for years liave baffled our statesmanship ? that through the 
throes of a new birth He has given us deliverance from the old 
evils of whicli the national system could not otherwise bo 
purged, but wliich in the system would be the canker-worm to 
eat out finally the nation's heart of liberty ? If, in addition to 
the benefits already indicated, God will, by means of this war, 
developc for us a plan by which to secure the emancipation of 
the long-enslaved African, He will renew for us our youth, and 
open for us a grander career than even in our own grand past. 
The current of the national life will then flow in unobstructed 
channels ; the perpetually disturbing force of an influence foreign 
to its nature will no longer draw it aside from its normal path. 
One thing seems pretty certain : that our free government will 



15 



never again be made to belie its nature, by being administered 
in the interest of slavery. As for emancipation, it seems has- 
tening on ; but by what processes it will be accomplished, God 
only knows. Perhaps the way to it may be strewn with woes. 
Perhaps the noise that fills the land is the sound of God's foot- 
steps coming near to judgment — to save the meek of the earth, 
and to cast down the haughty. Perhaps the torch and axe of 
servile insurrection are to cleave the way back to freedom, 
through desolated homes and murdered households. But God, 
in His mercy, forbid this ! and lift gently up the heavy incubus 
of this black iniquity ! Let us hope, and let us pray that He 
will. He is wonderful in counsel, He is excellent in working. 
Let us, then, penitently leave to Him the full solution of our 
gravest problem. 

Meanwhile let us look hopefully at the future. But lately 
the continent has been spanned from west to east. The nerves 
of the nation thrill in one uninterrupted course from the Atlan- 
tic to the Pacific. And shall the great artery that flows with 
ever-increasing volume down the great central valley of the 
continent, gathering its tributaries on cither hand in its course 
from north to south, be cut in twain by suicidal hands ? Shall 
the mountains that stretch in the same direction over our fair 
heritage break asunder like old bones ? Shall this Union be 
dissolved ? Shall we be rent in twain ? Forbid it, shades of 
our fathers ! Forbid it, memories of the past ! Forbid it, hopes 
of the future ! Forbid it, longings of the oppressed in all lands ! 
Forbid it, patriotism ! Forbid it, liberty ! Forbid it, God I 

I have seen the sun rise in beauty, and climb the heavens in 
constantly increasing splendor, until, by and by, the dark 
shadow of an eclipse crept slowly over its disc, blotting out in 
part its brightness. And as I watched the struggle between 
light and darkness, the darkness gained for awhile. But pre- 
sently the tide was turned from flood to ebb — it began to roll 
back into the realm of blackness, and the 'beautiful light, in the 
gladness of its triumph, shone forth with a clearer radiance than 
before the conflict. So our country's sun rose in beauty, and 
climbing higher and higher in the firmament, gladdened the 
world with the promise of a bright day of freedom. But by 



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and by an eclipse crept over it — the heavens gathered black- 
ness, and the earth became dark with fearful forebodings. You 
can divine the rest ; — tlie shadow shall roll back into the dark- 
ness out of which it came, the light shall shine forth again in 
superior splendor, and through the heaven of its destiny this 
sun shall ride on, amid the shouts of glad humanity, to the 
zenith of a perfect day ! 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



012 026 260 9 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




012 026 260 9 



